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Neuropsychological, neuroanatomical, and electrophysiological data are presented on two subjects with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Both boys had intelligence quotients in the mentally deficient range and were found to have several other severe, specific deficits. Magnetic resonance imaging showed abnormalities of the corpus callosum, and reductions in the size of the basal ganglia and thalamic structures. No focal abnormalities were noted in the electroencephalogram records, although the electroencephalograms of both boys were moderately abnormal for their age group. A multidisciplinary approach to the study of FAS, hopefully will lead to a more unified concept of the disorder and perhaps indicate specific areas of vulnerability.

Study Question: Are uterine natural killer (uNK) cell numbers and their distribution relative to endometrial arterioles altered in women with recurrent implantation failure (RIF) compared to women with embryo implantation success (IS)?Summary Answer: uNK cell numbers and their distribution relative to endometrial arterioles are not significantly different in women with RIF compared to women in whom embryo implantation occurs successfully following IVF.What Is Already Known: uNK cells are regulators of decidual angiogenesis and spiral arteriole remodelling during early pregnancy. Although some studies have shown that uNK cell numbers may be altered in women with RIF, the methods used to measure uNK cell numbers have proven inconsistent, making reproduction of these results difficult. It is unclear, therefore, whether the results reported so far are reproducible. Moreover, it is not known how uNK cell numbers may impact IVF outcomes. Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, uNK cell numbers are often evaluated as a prognostic criterion in women undergoing assisted reproductive procedures.Study Design, Size, Duration: Endometrial pipelle biopsies were collected 6-8 days post-LH surge in natural cycles from women with RIF (n = 14), women with IS (n = 11) and women with potential RIF at the time of the study (PRIF; n = 9) from 2013 to 2015.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: uNK cells (i.e. CD56+ and/or CD16+ phenotypes) and their distribution relative to endometrial arterioles were investigated by standard immunohistochemistry protocols and quantified using Aperio ScanScopeXT images digitized by ImageJ and deconvoluted into binary images for single cell quantification using a Gaussian Blur and Yen algorithm.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: There was no significant difference in the cell density of CD56+ or CD16+ uNK cells in women with RIF compared to women with IS or PRIF. There was a higher proportion of uNK cells in the distal regions compared to the regions closest to the arterioles in all patient groups. Further, we identified a significant reduction in uNK cell density in women who had a previous pregnancy compared to those who had not, regardless of their current implantation status.Large Scale Data: Not applicable.Limitations, Reasons For Caution: Spiral arterioles could not always be accurately identified by digital image analysis; therefore, all endometrial arterioles were selected and analysed. Patient numbers for the study were low. However, as the clinical phenotypes of each patient were well defined, and endometrial dating was accurately determined by three independent pathologists, differences between patient groups with respect to the uNK numbers and distribution should have been measurable if uNK cell counts were to be useful as a prognostic marker of RIF.Wider Implications Of the Findings: Our findings demonstrate that CD56+ and CD16+ uNK cell numbers are not significantly different in women with RIF in a typical cohort of women undergoing IVF. Further, prior pregnancy was associated with a significantly reduced number of uNK cells in both the RIF and IS patient groups, suggestive of a long-term pregnancy induced suppression of uNK cells. Combined, these findings do not support the clinical value of using uNK cell numbers as a prognostic indicator of implantation success with IVF treatment.Study Funding/competing Interest(s): Funding for this work was provided by Royal Women's Hospital Foundation. P.P. was supported by an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship [TF 11/14] and W.T.T. was supported by an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship [1055814]. The authors do not have any competing interests with this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global matrix techniques are used in the analysis of the Stark-Ladder resonances for transverse horizontal and surface waves in piezoelectric multilayers. Stark-Ladder resonances are observed when these waves propagate inside composites consisting of N piezoelectric layers whose piezoelectric properties obey a special linear relation. Each layer is made of materials with hexagonal 6 mm symmetry. The resonances are studied through the transmission coefficient. The transmission coefficient shows the well known band structure for a periodic piezocomposite, and when a linear term in the values of the piezoelectric parameters of the layers (which breaks the periodicity) is added, the band structure is destroyed and, in certain cases, resonances of the Stark-Ladder type are shown. The transmission coefficient is studied as a function of the properties of the materials and angle of incidence of the waves. Numerical results for two different configurations of piezocomposites are presented, one of them showing the existence of Stark-Ladders resonances. An analysis of the resonance spectrum is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The centre determination of a galaxy cluster from an optical cluster finding algorithm can be offset from theoretical prescriptions or N -body definitions of its host halo centre. These offsets impact the recovered cluster statistics, affecting both richness measurements and the weak lensing shear profile around the clusters. This paper models the centring performance of the redMaPPer cluster finding algorithm using archival X-ray observations of redMaPPer-selected clusters. Assuming the X-ray emission peaks as the fiducial halo centres, and through analysing their offsets to the redMaPPer centres, we find that |${\sim } 75\pm 8 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| of the redMaPPer clusters are well centred and the mis-centred offset follows a Gamma distribution in normalized, projected distance. These mis-centring offsets cause a systematic underestimation of cluster richness relative to the well-centred clusters, for which we propose a descriptive model. Our results enable the DES Y1 cluster cosmology analysis by characterizing the necessary corrections to both the weak lensing and richness abundance functions of the DES Y1 redMaPPer cluster catalogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present weak-lensing (WL) mass constraints for a sample of massive galaxy clusters detected by the South Pole Telescope (SPT) via the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect (SZE). We use griz imaging data obtained from the Science Verification (SV) phase of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to fit the WL shear signal of 33 clusters in the redshift range 0.25 ≤ |$z$| ≤ 0.8 with NFW profiles and to constrain a four-parameter SPT mass–observable relation. To account for biases in WL masses, we introduce a WL mass to true mass scaling relation described by a mean bias and an intrinsic, lognormal scatter. We allow for correlated scatter within the WL and SZE mass–observable relations and use simulations to constrain priors on nuisance parameters related to bias and scatter from WL. We constrain the normalization of the ζ− M 500 relation, |$A_\mathrm{SZ}=12.0_{-6.7}^{+2.6}$| when using a prior on the mass slope B SZ from the latest SPT cluster cosmology analysis. Without this prior, we recover |$A_\mathrm{SZ}=10.8_{-5.2}^{+2.3}$| and |$B_\mathrm{SZ}=1.30_{-0.44}^{+0.22}$|⁠. Results in both cases imply lower cluster masses than measured in previous work with and without WL, although the uncertainties are large. The WL derived value of B SZ is |${\approx } 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| lower than the value preferred by the most recent SPT cluster cosmology analysis. The method demonstrated in this work is designed to constrain cluster masses and cosmological parameters simultaneously and will form the basis for subsequent studies that employ the full SPT cluster sample together with the DES data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The homeobox gene goosecoid was the first specific genetic marker of Spemann's organizer in vertebrate embryos to be discovered. In the frog, misexpression of this gene by RNA injection produces duplication of the posterior axis. For these reasons, the recent finding that mice lacking goosecoid function have no early axial defects was rather surprising. Here we assay the neural inducing strength of wild-type and goosecoid-mutant mouse nodes by transplantation into primitive streak stage chick embryos. Wild-type mouse nodes strongly induce the neural-specific transcription factors Sox2 and Sox3 in the chick host. Homozygous [goosecoid.sup.-/-] nodes are severely impaired in their ability to induce both genes. Heterozygous [goosecoid.sup.+/-] nodes induce Sox3 as well as wild-type nodes, but resemble -/- nodes in their limited ability to induce Sox2. We propose that goosecoid does play a role in regulating the neural inducing strength of the node and that regulative mechanisms exist which mask the early phenotypic consequences of goosecoid mutations in the intact mouse embryo. [C] 1999 Academic Press